It only took one week for the Panthers to have a member earn player of the week honors. After battling through an abysmal situation in Pittsburgh, and then getting thrown into the fire in Michigan towards the end of the season Quarterback Josh Love earned the USFL’s Week 1 Offensive Player of the Week award. Love went 18/20 throwing for 215 Passing Yards, 3 TDs in the Panthers 29-13 victory over the Houston Gamblers.

Love had to battle with highly touted signing Carson Strong for the majority of training camp. After being selected by the Pittsburgh Maulers in the “12th Round” of the 2022 USFL Draft, Love would beat out Kyle Lauletta for the Maulers starting job before getting waived midway through the 2022 season. Love would start two games for the Panthers before seasons end entering the off-season the favorite to earn the QB1 position in Eric Marty’s offense.

Love would start 2023, putting together his best performance in his professional football career. Love connected with Alt-League Veteran Marcus Baugh to begin the scoring parade for the Panthers while also finding Trey Quinn, and Joe Walker on scores of 24 yards and 34 yards respectively. Love showed massive development and confidence as both him and Back Up Carson Strong finished the day going 23/25 and 249 Passing Yards.

The Panthers are set to take on the Stars next week in Canton. The Stars have one of the USFL’s top signal caller’s in Case Cookus and are poised for an offensive shootout against the USFL’s runner-up from 2022. With the Panthers offense firing on all cylinders after their week 1 performance, look for Josh Love to challenge the Stars Defensive standouts like Channing Stribling and Adam Rodriguez in week 2.